Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Reflections on Cuba and a Cuban Poet’s Heart

“We need to show you how to get home
from school in case we are attacked,” my father told me one night as he tucked
me into bed.” The next day at school, the teachers instructed us if the sirens
sounded, we needed to run into the hallway, get down on our hands and knees,
and bury our head between our legs.

“Don’t eat any food unless it’s sealed in
a can,” my mother said, “and make sure you wipe off the top first.” The next
day my parents showed me the way home from school along a heavily-traveled road
in case they couldn’t come to school to get me if the buses weren’t running.

“What
happened?” I asked. Fear struck at my heart that I might not see my parents again.
Who would want to attack us anyway?

My dad replied, “Cuba has aimed missiles
at the United States. If they launch them, they could reach Atlanta.” I had never
heard of Cuba and had no idea what missiles were, but I was frightened. At
seven years old in first grade, that was my first indoctrination into the possibility
of war and my own vulnerability to the unthinkable—my parents or I could be
killed.

Fortunately, the danger passed, thanks
to President Kennedy’s strong leadership and standing up to Fidel Castro, but I
learned later, that wasn’t my family’s only encounter with the communist dictator.
When I was older, my grandparents told me about their wonderful vacations in
Cuba during the 1950s, how beautiful the beaches were and how much they loved the
island. They never took another vacation anywhere in the world that came close
to the tranquility of those they took in Cuba before Fidel Castro seized power.

In more somber moments, they shared with
me their final vacation when Castro overthrew the government and the revolution
took place. The hotel workers deserted the hotel, the bar was raided, the food
stolen from the kitchen, and total anarchy covered the countryside. It was a
story I never got tired of hearing. I only wish I had written down in detail their
experience so I could write about it today.

Sadly,
I never thought much more about the people of Cuba until we had an author to
join the John 3:16 Network recently. As I read his emails on our private forum,
I became keenly aware of how difficult his living situation is and how much I
take for granted in a country where freedom and opportunity have always been
the norm.

Here is a short interview of Roberto Ornan Roche

*You are a Christian writer in
Cuba. Please tell me a little about your life.

Life in Cuba is somewhat routine and
boring, though to be a Christian makes it worthwhile. I work as a small
business landlord for computer facilities. My wife and I have a baby of ten
months, and it is very difficult to make ends meet. For example, some strained
fruit for our baby costs 25 pesos (about US$0.95), but the average wage of a
worker in Cuba is less than four hundred pesos a month (about US$15.00).

When I have some free time I go on the internet to see how things are going
with my books. But the internet is expensive and difficult to use, and
sometimes I spend more money checking my books than I make from them. The
internet is prohibited in Cuba, but we can pay to obtain some hours, and hope
that the State does not take reprisals.

It is important, amid all that, to maintain our spiritual life and not lose
sight of the Lord.

*How did you start
writing?

I began to write because I felt that it
was the best way to express my feelings about my life, and as an expression of
my faith. For that reason my writings are devotionals, testimonies and simple
stories. I wanted to express my devotion to God, who has a purpose for my life.

*Is it easy to be
published as a Christian writer in Cuba?

The churches and denominations in Cuba
have small magazines, but with few pages and very low circulations. These
magazines are the only means for a Christian writer to say something. A
national seemingly Christian publishing house exists, with the possibility of
printing a great number of copies. This Publishing House is named
"Roads."

However, they also mix in politics, and they live ostentatious lives, backed up
by donations from overseas Christian organizations. But that type of
"Christian" is known well and the true churches don't mix with them,
although they are powerful and can offer useful opportunities, because they
enjoy the privilege of the State.

*Is it easy to be a
practicing Christian in Cuba?

I remember when I was a schoolboy that
our teachers made us stand at the front of the classroom, so that the other
students could make fun of us, because we didn't believe in Darwin's Evolution
or in the ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin. We were simply Christians, and the
other children were trained to hate us.

This was not an isolated practice. Rather, it was mandatory for the teachers to
embarrass the Christian children. Likewise, it was necessary for parents to
deny their faith, so that their children could study in the University.

Currently, with the decadence of the socialist society, the State has been
allowing certain freedoms and has been taking advantage of Christians to heal
our society, although in no way do they want a Christian society. They simply
want us to participate in the formation of a solid society – taking the good of
the churches, but without giving much ground.

*Are there many
churches in Cuba?

Yes, we have many churches, although we
are not allowed to open up or build new churches. This has always been
forbidden. Our local church is more than eighty years old.

*Please tell me a little
about your church.

Our church is small, but after waiting
decades for a construction licence, and jumping over thousands of bureaucratic
barriers, the construction of a new church building, on the site of the old
church, is almost finished.

Due to the construction work, some church activities have been rescheduled. But
normally we have men’s, women’s, children’s and youth worship. We also have
prayer groups, Sunday School in the morning and evening worship.

Our Pastor is a very good preacher. He is very inspiring and his sermons
attract a lot of non-believers. We also have home prayer groups, and fasting
and prayer in the mornings.

People in our church are simple and humble, very poor and unpretentious. Over
many decades a lot of very good Christians have left their imprints on the
hearts of the congregation. These were church brothers and sister who always
stood up and gave moving testimonies.

A brother who traveled overseas remembered us with a donation that we used to
buy an electronic piano for the church. We call these brothers and sister the
Pillars of our church, and although they have moved to be with the Lord, we
always have other older men and deacons who are the new Pillars of our church.

My mother Migdalia has been a very active person in the Ladies department and a
teacher of Sunday School. In her youth she traveled hundred of kilometers to
study and also to teach at Summer Schools in small towns.

I hope
you enjoy this short poem by Roberto. My heart is quickened when I see lived
out the profound truth of God – He is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and
in every country throughout the world, we are one in the Spirit.

The Perfect Story

By Roberto Ornan Roche

They wanted the
“perfect” story, without miracles and without churches, so that sin did not
seem so bad, nor the Christians so good; where the suffering one, the abandoned
one, and the ordinary one did not count. A story to give meaning to the vanity
of the World and to open the doors equally to all the experiences.

They wanted
clearly understood the reason why evil covers and overcomes good so easily; the
reason why the man who has abandoned his wife can hardly remember her affection,
her tender care, and her love without measure; and while she is thinking that
she is present in his mind, she is for him only a vagrant and uncomfortable
memory that never appears in the most meritorious moments of the day.

They wanted a
story full of peace and harmony; with a God who does not abide by all His
promises; and with many children who claim not to believe in Him; but with
capable men who are willing to substitute Him with their songs.

They intended a
story of long roads without shade, all of them built by man's hands and with
the blood of others, they also intended to step on the grass without noticing
the dead butterflies. They thought the forbidden fruit would be a trophy, and
the mantle of iniquity that human beings take inside would be similar to their
own freedom.

They imagined a
story where sinners and their blasphemies were applauded and fully accepted
because there are always new rights to conceive. A story of new experiences,
without prodigal children, which never forgives the past, and follows a new
road without looking backwards. A story where errors did not count and they
were taken as lived experiences.

They wanted a
story without tears or pain, without cancer, without thorns or angels.

They wanted a
story without me, without my brethren, without regrets or redemption; a story
without Heaven.

They
wanted a “perfect” story, without Psalms, a Godless eternity, but they only had
the story of the Saviour who died on the cross of the Calvary, and they did not
really like that story very much.

This poem and more of Roberto Ornan Roche’s writings can be found at :

3 comments:

Those of us who can worship freely take it so much for granted. The pleas from the pulpit for persons to attend Prayer meetings or to take part in other activities in the church are repeated frequently, as attendance is so poor. We never know what we have until it is taken away or in the case of author Roberto, never had it.I so admire Roberto for doing all he can to share the love of the Lord with others. His writings are inspiring and should be read by all.Thanks for telling us more about your life in Cuba.

I don't know where to begin! Lorilyn, what a beautiful introduction. Roberto, thank you for sharing some of your life with us and your poem is so powerful, so poignant. Roberto, one of your stories reminds me of a teacher our older daughter had in first grade who separated all the kids into "devils" and "angels" and treated them accordingly. Needless to say, once parents discovered what was going on, it was stopped immediately. Thank you, Lorilyn and Roberto for a beautiful post and giving us much to think about!

Thanks for sharing your personal story Lorilyn. My Dad was a pilot aboard the USS Forrestal during the Cuban missile crisis. We were stationed in Italy at the time. We were later stationed in "Gitmo" Guantanimo Bay, Cuba in the late 1960's.

Roberto has such a story to tell. What a great interview you did and so enlightening into the day to day life of a Christian in present day Cuba. I downloaded Roberto's ebook and look forward to reading his heartfelt poems and writings.

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